Alternatives to hypochlorous acid and fungicides are needed for treatment of fruit and fruit-handling facilities. Chlorine dioxide was evaluated and found effective against common postharvest decay fungi and against filamentous fungi occurring on fruit packinghouse surfaces. In vitro tests with conidial or sporangiospore suspensions of Botrytis cinerea, Penicillium expansum, Mucor piriformis, a...

Different species of Phytophthora cause serious and economically important soilborne diseases of citrus throughout the World. Tree and crop production losses occur from damping-off of seedlings in the seedbed, root and crown rot in nurseries, foot rot and fibrous root rot, and brown rot of fruit in groves. Foot rot results from infection of the bark near the ground level producing lesions on th...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) fruit are highly perishable and have a very short shelf life, easily turning brown and decaying. This study investigated the efficiency of pyrogallol, a catechin on the physiology and biochemistry in relation to storage life of litchi fruit. RESULTS Fruit were treated with pyrogallol at 1 mM and then stored at ambient temperature (25°C)...

Acetic acid (AA) as a vapor at low concentrations was effective in preventing fruit decay by postharvest fungi. Fumigation with 2.7 or 5.4 mg AA/liter in air at 2 and 20C reduced germination of Botrytis cinerea Pers. and Penicillium expansum Link conidia to zero after they had been dried on 0.5-cm square pieces of dialysis tubing. Decay of ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Red Delicious’, and ‘Spartan’ appl...

The use of antibiotics in agriculture is limited when compared to their applications in human and veterinary medicine. On the other hand, the use of antimicrobials in agriculture contributes to the drug resistance of human pathogens and has stimulated the search for new antibiotics from natural products. Essential oils have been shown to exert several biological activities including antibacteri...

Incidence of green mold of citrus, caused by Penicillium digitatum, was reduced by 80% or more by the immersion of lemons or oranges for 1–4 min in warm (40.6–43.3°C) ‘liquid lime-sulfur’ (LLS) solution that contained 0.75% (wt vol) calcium polysulfide. The incidence of sour rot, caused by Geotrichum citri-aurantii, was reduced 35–70% by this treatment. LLS was similar in effectiveness to other...